Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Warwick Wine Estate was named overall winner at the 2010 Santam Classic Wine Trophy Awards held at the recently opened Taj Hotel in Cape Town, on Friday, 5 March.
A panel of international judges praised the Warwick Trilogy, the Estate's cabernet-driven flagship blend, for its handsomeness, elegance and qualitative consistency with each successive vintage. This top honour at the Santam Classic Wine Trophy Awards follows Trilogy's 'Top 100' Wine Spectator listing in 2009 and a thumbs-up 4½ Stars in what is, arguably, the most authoritative local wine guide, Platter's South Africa Wines . Although accolades are synonymous with Trilogy, Managing Director, Mike Ratcliffe was, nevertheless, delighted about this recent scoop, as the winery prides itself on advocating 'quality without compromise' and actively pursues positioning South African wines in a competitive global context.
The audience was comprised of celebrated wine- and lifestyle- media, members of the trade and representatives from respective wineries. The festive, vibrant, and relaxed ambience allowed for an informal forum, peppered with several impromptu addresses, characterised by charismatic French judges expressing their affection for South African wines! Organiser, Christophe Durand, exuded praise for the outstanding quality of South African wines entered this year and these sentiments were echoed by the editor of French wine publication, La Revue du Vin de France, Oliver Poels, who asserted that South African wines were 'par with the best from France and the world'.
The Santam Classic Wine Trophy is widely renowned for its credibility and legitimacy. Wines are blind-tasted over four days, cross-tasted, and re-tasted blind after which the short-listed wines are tasted again by all the judges in the 'grand finale'. Throughout these tastings, protocol outlined by the Organisation of Vine and Wine from Paris is rigorously adhered to.